'Twas the Cruise Over Easter - 9 Day Southern Caribbean - March 29 - April 7, 2024

[POA1]

Tonight's Club Orange dinner menu. Strangely, the MDR has pork belly tonight. We do not. I'm sort of expecting to see pork belly on our menu

 

 

co_mdr_dinner_day_3(5).pdf

[POA1]

It turns out that my reading skills are impared. The pork belly isn't on the pur menu. Right at the top of page 2 Where only an idiot could miss it.

[Sea Viewer]

30 minutes ago, POA1 said:

It turns out that my reading skills are impared. The pork belly isn't on the pur menu. Right at the top of page 2 Where only an idiot could miss it.

 

Blame the painkiller,

[RuthC]

7 hours ago, POA1 said:

Poohby Joe, decked out in his Easter t-shirt, is bringing candy to all his HAL pals.

 

Poohby Joe, I think I love you! 

M&M's peanut flavor, and you share??? Thank you! 

[tompeter]

3 hours ago, POA1 said:

We caught 2½ sets of the BB King band last night. A woman sort of collapsed midway through the set. The band called for medical response, which came quickly. The woman was sitting up and waving and I understand that she's OK.

 

We caught some of Derek's set in Billboard. He's very good, just like reported by @Scrapnana

 

Then we went to the Rolling Stone Rock Room for their last set. The keyboard player / vocalist from our Nieuw Statendam trip just joined them this week. The band has a very strong female vocalist, which helps a lot. The NS band had two guitarists who alternated on lead. This band has one lead guitar, which might limit them a tiny bit, but the lead has very much of a Mark Knopfler playing style, which is great.

 

Tonight's show on the Main Stage is Island Magic who we've seen on a number of previous cruises. We'll definitely go to their late show.

Assuming you mean Rachel (lead singer). She said she was going on vacation after NS...If you get a chance to speak with her, could you find out her schedule for next several months (if she knows), Thanks. We love her voice! 

[BetsyS.]

canadianbear- You're braver than me since you tried the Weng Weng. I'm glad you watered it down! 😊

[canadianbear]

1 minute ago, BetsyS. said:

canadianbear- You're braver than me since you tried the Weng Weng. I'm glad you watered it down! 😊

lol. I had to try it-have heard about it for years.  Figured with the HIA might as well attempt it.  Made a good try but boy oh boy, was it strong 😳  Even with Sprite being added I would not order that drink again! 

[POA1]

1 hour ago, tompeter said:

Assuming you mean Rachel (lead singer). She said she was going on vacation after NS...If you get a chance to speak with her, could you find out her schedule for next several months (if she knows), Thanks. We love her voice! 

 

I do indeed mean Rachel. Apprentice she had a band with the current bassist and many of the band members played in Nashville. I'll let you you know what I can find out.

[POA1]

53 minutes ago, canadianbear said:

lol. I had to try it-have heard about it for years.  Figured with the HIA might as well attempt it.  Made a good try but boy oh boy, was it strong 😳  Even with Sprite being added I would not order that drink again! 

Hear, hear! We need to band together to resist this relentless peer pressure.

[POA1]

51 minutes ago, POA1 said:

 

I do indeed mean Rachel. Apprentice she had a band with the current bassist and many of the band members played in Nashville. I'll let you you know what I can find out.

That should have read "Apparently she had been in a band with..."

 

Seriously, I had a glass of champagne at breakfast and one Painkiller at lunch. Granted, it had the bonus rum floater - thank you, Elite Beverage Package upgrade! - but that isn't even enough impact me four hours later.

 

I don't turn 61 for another few days. This does not bode well for my golden years. 😃

[57redbird]

1 hour ago, canadianbear said:

lol. I had to try it-have heard about it for years.  Figured with the HIA might as well attempt it.  Made a good try but boy oh boy, was it strong 😳  Even with Sprite being added I would not order that drink again! 

That's how I feel about Aperol Spritz....YUCK!

[POA1]

7 minutes ago, 57redbird said:

That's how I feel about Aperol Spritz....YUCK!

The Aperol Spritz is covert antiseptic mouthwash, in this man's humble opinion.

[POA1]

Heading out for pre-dinner cocktails. Once again, Poohby Joe is trying to elevate the overall dress code on the Rotterdam. Sure, he's wearing a fleece onesy, but he dresses it up.

 

 

Tiny bears on a tiny bowtie.

[Blackduck59]

You have the most cool bear, and what a wardrobe. I think my wife is in love with your bear, I'm almost jealous.

Your threads are always so full of fun and good vibrations. We will continue to follow along, it brightens our day.

Edited March 31 by Blackduck59

[POA1]

Dinner was quite good. We're in the main showroom waiting for our favorite Trini band to start their set.

 

 

[Huskerchick]

7 hours ago, POA1 said:

On the IMPORTANT RESEARCH front, I am pleased to report that scratch made Painkillers can be had, if you ask nicely.

 

Pictured here on the right, with a Cuba Libre Cero on the left.

 

 

The Painkiller was very good and reminded me of the one we had on Tortolla at the Pussers Bar

Edited April 1 by Huskerchick

[Haljo1935]

3 hours ago, POA1 said:

I don't turn 61 for another few days. This does not bode well for my golden years. 😃

Is it too soon to say Happy Birthday 🎂 

[Navybikermom]

47 minutes ago, Huskerchick said:

The Painkiller was very good and reminded me of the one we had on Tortolla at the Pussers Bar

I think I’ll try one again in May. Thank you for the excellent research!

[POA1]

Island Magic was outstanding. This is the end of their current contract. They'll be back in the Caribbean next season.

 

If you have a chance, definitely see their shows. They're not what you'll expect from steel pan.

[POA1]

Sunday supper: We rarely order the exact same courses, but, with the exception dessert, we went round for round tonight.

 

I think our orientation seminar with our Club Orange wine steward went pretty well. He seems to be okay with my ordering all wine at once. He's also receptive to serving all the wine at the same time. (This likely runs counter to his training. I'm pleased he's willing to make an exception for us.)

 

We only had two wines tonight, Gérard Bertrand Côte des Roses, and Chateau Ste Michelle Riesling.

 

Wines du jour. In battle formation.

 

The bread basket. We usually split a roll. Pretty sure that's not preventing weight gain, but - hey - at least we're trying.

 

Crab Deviled Eggs. Creamy and delicious, we could have easily polished off a dozen. The Rosé was employed here.

 

We shared the Beecher's Mac and Cheese as our second course.  The blush wine is still hard at work.

 

The Crispy Pork Belly was our main course. I paired this with Chateau Ste Michelle Riesling.

 

Admittedly, I messed up here. A dry German Riesling or a Gewürztraminer would have been far betterhere. The Ste. Michelle Riesling, while adequate, was a little too sweet. CSM produces a dry riesling which would have been more up to the task. I don't think HAL stocks it, and certainly not by the glass.

 

I had the "Passion Fruit Easter Cheesecake." I'm reasonably sure that this is the mousse in holiday garb.

 

Michelle had the Chocolate Whiskey Tort. Even without the collectable, white chocolate Easter coin, this was the winning dessert.

 

Michelle finished with a cappuccino. I had cognac.

 

 

 

Edited April 1 by POA1

[BetsyS.]

Thanks for the updates and great pictures. I hope HAL will give you a birthday cake! 🎂🥂😊 Happy birthday!

[oakridger]

I just had to Google!

 

[POA1]

 

Good morning from Aruba! We're docked and ready to start our day.

 

We've got two HAL tours on the docket; Natural Wonders of Aruba this morning, and Aruba Sunset Sail this evening.

 

We're getting ourselves all squeaky clean and then heading to breakfast in Club Orange. While we are out and about, the bear will be here, holding down the fort. He rarely gets off the ship, because everywhere he goes, he's mobbed by the poohparzzi, who try to snap pictures of him. (The life of a celebrity is a challenge sometimes.)

[Huskerchick]

A lovely good morning from Aruba. I grabbed a vew pictures from the balcony before we headed to breakfast. We are going to be sticker people today and have two excursions planned. We're the only ship in port today 

 

 

 

 

[POA1]

Club Orange is pretty empty this morning. Most of the retail shops on the island are closed today. Easter Monday is a holiday here.